U.S. stock indexes rose on Wednesday, as investors digested a batch of economic data and awaited the latest minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
How are stock indexes trading?
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.46%
rose 136 points, or 0.4% to 34,233 - The S&P 500
SPX,
+0.55%
gained 18 points, or 0.5% to 4,022 - The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+1.81%
added 83 points, or 0.7%, to 11,260
Stocks finished higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 closing up 53.64 points, or 1.4%, to 4,003.58, the Dow industrials gaining 397.82 points, or 1.2%, to close at 34,098.10. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 149.89 points, or 1.4%, to close at 11,174.40.
What’s driving markets?
Stocks rose on Wednesday, attempting to follow up on Tuesday’s gains, which were in part driven by ongoing hopes that the Federal Reserve will slow the pace at which it is raising interest rates.
November’s meeting minutes, due at 2 p.m. Eastern, will be watched closely for clues as to how high the fed-funds rate needs to go and how long it will stay there in order to bring inflation under control. The Fed hiked its benchmark rate by 0.75 percentage points to a range of 3.75% to 4% at the last meeting.
“Investors may be on the hunt for clues that they’ve acted prematurely, or that there’s actually more support for such a slowdown in tightening and less for a higher terminal rate than they previously thought,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, in a note to clients.
Read: This isn’t a ‘close your eyes and buy anything’ kind of market
In U.S. economic data, U.S. durable-goods orders rose 1% in October while jobless benefit claims rose 17,000 to 240,000 in the latest week, the highest level since August. Meanwhile, the S&P Global flash U.S. services purchasing managers indexes in November dropped to 46.1 from 47.8. S&P Global flash U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers indexes in November fell to 47.6 from 50.7. Any number below 50 reflects a contracting economy.
The University of Michigan’s final November consumer sentiment index fell in November to 56.8 and remained depressed, reflecting concerns about high inflation and the increasing possibility of a recession.
U.S. new home sales advanced 7.5% to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 632,000 in October from a revised 588,000 in the prior month, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday.
U.S. stock exchanges will be closed for Thanksgiving Day on Thursday, Nov. 24, and reopen the next day only for a shortened session on Black Friday, the annual end-of-year shopping event, with trading ending at 1 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 25.
Bond yields were holding steady, with that of the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
trading around 3.711% and the 2-year
TMUBMUSD02Y,
at 4.492%.
The spread between 2- and 10-year Treasury yields ended Tuesday’s session at minus 76 basis points, the most inverted since Oct. 5, 1981, which some say points to an inevitable recession.
Elsewhere, oil prices
CL.1,
were modestly lower, while natural-gas futures
NG00,
climbed 8% to $7.982 per million British thermal units, with European natural-gas futures also surging after Russian energy giant Gazprom threatened to cut deliveries through a Ukraine pipeline to Europe. Markets are also waiting on news of an agreement between the U.S. and its allies over a price cap on Russian oil.
Companies in focus
- Manchester United’s
MANU,
+17.59%
stock climbed 14% on Wednesday after the club’s owners confirmed they are exploring potential financial investment or an outright sale of the storied Premier League club. - HP Inc.
HPQ,
+0.03%
shares went down 0.9% Wednesday after the company’s executives on Tuesday announced plans to cut up to 10% of their workforce in the coming years while issuing weaker-than-expected earnings guidance. - Credit Suisse
CSGN,
-4.85%
shares went down 5.5% Wednesday after the bank’s shareholders overwhelmingly approved a plan to raise 4 billion francs ($4.2 billion) on Wednesday. In two votes, shareholders backed a plan for a private placement as well as a rights offering of discounted shares.
